Display paging receivers are now well known. Such receivers generally comprise electronic circuitry for decoding an address message transmitted over the air, and upon receipt of a particular address, associated electronic circuitry accepts a following message intended for the user of the paging unit. The message is stored in a memory of the unit ad may be displayed on an appropriate display, such as an LCD display, for the use to read either at the time of the page or later.
In many other radio or other electronic devices, it would be desirable to have available for use a paging function or activity. For example, two-way radio transceivers of either the portable type (e.g. those carried in the hand or worn on a belt) or the mobile type (e.g. those mounted in a vehicle, for example, in or under the dashboard) already have substantial portions of the electronics associated with them that are necessary to provide the paging function.
Paging devices typically have not been provided with such radio, however, for a number of reasons, at least one of which being that the display of a radio so carried or mounted, is typically not in the user's field of view and is difficult or impossible for a user to read without changing the position of the radio or the user. In the case of a vehicle-mounted radio, such a change of position may even be dangerous. Thus, it would be highly desirable to provide a detachable display for the paging devices.
Previous detachable displays have typically been used to prevent unauthorized reading of the display. Such a detachable display is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,521 to Evans. In this device, the detachable display is used to prevent unauthorized reading and not to enhance the user's view.